Macau

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Macau is a place of contrasts. Macau, or Macao as it was better known when it was a Portuguese colony, is officially the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China. Like its many names, the SAR is filled with more people, culture, and history than its small size suggests. Sitting on just 29.5 square kilometers (11.39 sq. miles) of land, some of it reclaimed from the Pearl River Delta, Macau has a population of more than 600,000 with a density of more than 18,500 people per square kilometer (48,000 per square mile). Although crowded, its denseness does not seem so much from its small footprint as from its rich and colorful history. The former colony still retains much of its Portuguese and indigenous Cantonese character but has grown more Chinese since its return to China in 1999. As the country’s only destination for legalized gambling, a Portuguese legacy dating back to the 1850s, Macau has become a tourist draw with its growing array of gambling and Las Vegas-style entertainment and conference venues. Nestled amid the grand casinos are neighborhoods steeped in colonial and traditional Chinese heritage. Like its sister across the delta in Hong Kong, Macau is worth highlighting as a semi-autonomous region because of its unique character and heritage.

More About Macau

• Top Ten Things to Savor in Macau
• A Skyline View of Macau (Video)
• The Historic Center of Macau
• “The House of Dancing Water” Show in Macau
• Other articles

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A Skyline View of Macau

Taipu Village at Night

Three Views of Iguazu Falls

I posted a new video clip to the World Adventurers YouTube Channel featuring three different views of Iguazu Falls, one of the world’s largest and most spectacular waterfalls. The falls, one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature, is located near Paraguay on the border between Argentina and Brazil.

The first video segment shows a close up of the Devil’s Throat (in Spanish, Garganta del Diablo) looking down from the Argentina side. The second was filmed from a platform on the Brazil side looking up the waterfalls looking up at the Devil’s Throat. The third segment features a downriver look at the many cascading waterfalls that form Iguazu Falls. I think you’ll agree that the sight is impressive.

I tried to keep the video camera steady and pan slowly, but the scene was so immense that I had to move the camera in multiple directions to capture it all.

Iguazu Falls, Argentina-Brazil

 

Click here for more information about and photos of Iguazu Falls.

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M.G. Edwards is a writer of books and stories in the mystery, thriller and science fiction-fantasy genres. He also writes travel adventures. He is author of Kilimanjaro: One Man’s Quest to Go Over the Hill, a non-fiction account of his attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, and a short story collection called Real Dreams: Thirty Years of Short Stories. He also wrote and illustrated Alexander the Salamander and Ellie the Elephant, two books in the World Adventurers for Kids Series. His books are available in e-book and print from Amazon.com and other booksellers. Edwards graduated from the University of Washington with a master’s degree in China Studies and a Master of Business Administration. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife Jing and son Alex.

For more books or stories by M.G. Edwards, visit his web site at www.mgedwards.com or his blog, World Adventurers. Contact him at me@mgedwards.com, on Facebook, on Google+, or @m_g_edwards on Twitter.

© 2013 Brilliance Press. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted without the written consent of the author.

Iguazu Falls vs. Victoria Falls (with Photos)

This updates an article I posted in 2010, with photos showing different views of mighty Iguazu Falls and Victoria Falls. Click here to read the original article.

I’ve had the rare opportunity to visit two of the world’s great waterfalls, Iguazu (Iguaçu) Falls on the Argentina-Brazil border in South America and Victoria Falls (Mosi-Oa-Tunya) on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border in Africa. Each was just a few hours’ drive from my former homes in Asunción, Paraguay and Lusaka, Zambia, respectively, and I visited them often. As measured by water volume, both are the two largest and arguably most spectacular waterfalls in the world.

It’s easy to conclude when you visit one that it’s more impressive than the other. Some claim that Iguazu Falls is better while others prefer Victoria Falls. Iguazu Falls is one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature and is the wider of the two with cascades that look like bridal veils. Victoria Falls, a World Heritage Site, is higher with a massive curtain of water during the rainy season that disappears in the dry season. Iguazu has the “Devil’s Throat,” a narrow falls where the water crashes into a torrential pool, and Victoria the “Devil’s Pool,” a whirlpool at the edge of the falls where visitors can swim during the dry season. One is in Africa and the other in South America, lending geographical biases in favor of one or the other.

What do you think? Here are photos of each waterfall at different times of the year. Decide for yourself. After browsing through the photos, vote for your favorite waterfall at the bottom of this post.

Iguazu Falls / Iguaçu Falls – Argentina-Brazil

Victoria Falls / Mosi-Oa-Tunya – Zambia-Zimbabwe

Vote for your favorite now and post your comments below!

This poll is unscientific and has a margin of error of +/- 100%.

Which waterfall do I think is more impressive? Click here to find out.

M.G. Edwards is a writer of books and stories in the mystery, thriller and science fiction-fantasy genres. He also writes travel adventures. He is author of Kilimanjaro: One Man’s Quest to Go Over the Hill, a non-fiction account of his attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, a collection of short stories called Real Dreams: Thirty Years of Short Stories and Alexander the Salamander, a children’s story set in the Amazon. His books are available to purchase as an e-book and in print from Amazon.com and other booksellers. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife Jing and son Alex.

For more books or stories by M.G. Edwards, visit his web site at www.mgedwards.com or his blog, World Adventurers. Contact him at me@mgedwards.com, on Facebook, on Google+, or @m_g_edwards on Twitter.

© 2012 Brilliance Press. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted without the written consent of the author.